


The Velveteen rabbit

by NYWCgirl



Series: Abyssinia [5]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Illness, contagious disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 10:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5452856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is almost Christmas and Neal has a sore throat. Peter and El invite him to spend Christmas with them, so he is more comfortable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Velveteen rabbit

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written for the White Collar H/C Advent Challenge.
> 
> Title comes from a children´s book written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit and his desire to become real through the love of his owner. The book was first published in 1922. One day, the main character, a boy becomes sick with scarlet fever, and the rabbit sits with him as he recovers. The doctor orders that the boy should be taken to the seaside, and that his room should be disinfected, and all his books and toys burnt - including the velveteen rabbit…

 

 

Neal was already waiting for him on the curb, so the minute Peter pulled over, Neal got in.

“Morning, Peter” Neal croaked while he got in the car.

Peter turned his head in surprise at him.

“Are you sick?”

“Nah, just a sore throat.”

“You have a cold. The correct answer to my question would be, yes, Peter, I´m sick. Are you sure you want to go to the office, maybe it is better to stay at home?”

“No, June is not home, she went to her family to spend Christmas. She gave the staff off; it will be warmer in the office.”

That made sense to Peter, he couldn´t imagine how you would keep the mansion warm without staff.

“OK, let´s go.”

They worked all day at mortgage fraud cases until Peter thought it was time to go home.

“Neal, ready to go home?”

“Yeah” his voice was more air than sound by now and he was pale.

“Neal, are you alright? You sound even worse than this morning.” Peter was getting worried.

“I´m fine.”

“I want you to come home with me. It will be warm and El can make you some chicken soup.”

“Sounds good to me.”

That got Peter really worried. Neal would never just accept an invitation, he would decline for show, and after repeated invitations, he would accept. He had to be really feeling sick to just accept.

“Let´s go home, buddy.”

Neal was quiet during the ride over to Brooklyn. Once Peter parked the car in front of the house, he had to drag Neal into the house, as he was asleep when they arrived.

The house was warm and smelled delicious. El had cooked a pot roast with baked potatoes, by the smell of it. Peter opened a bottle of beer and asked what Neal wanted. But he just wanted a glass of water.

“Sweetie, why don´t you lie down on the couch, while I finish supper.”

Neal let himself flop on the couch and gave a sigh of relief. He was almost immediately asleep and El went back into the kitchen to make Neal something easy to eat. Peter sat down with his beer and newspaper.

“We are ready to eat, Peter.” El called out.

“OK, let me wake Neal.”

“Neal, wake up, El made you some soup.”

Neal opened his eyes and groaned. He was tired and all his joins ached. He must have caught the flu. He slowly shuffled towards the dining room table. He was relieved to have reached it and to be able to sit down again.

When El placed the bowl of soup in front of him, his stomach lurched but he breathed through it. After a couple of breaths, he took the spoon and started eating.

During dinner El and Peter chatted about their day, and Neal let their voices wash over him. After dinner, he was beat and El suggested that he would move into the guest bedroom. He didn´t put up any protest and let Peter led him upstairs to freshen up while El prepared the bedroom.

When El covered him with an extra blanket, he thanked her and was asleep before she left the room.

 

* * *

 

In the morning Peter left for work and Neal stayed in bed, being nursed by El. He had been sleeping for most of the day and hadn´t come down. El was worried as his fever was increasing and she kept coaxing him in drinking tea and water.

When Peter got home, he was in a very good mood. He had found the perfect tree and bought it, it was a bit more expensive than he would have liked, but El would appreciate it and all he wanted to do was make her happy. He left the tree near the front door; he would come back for it later.

He kissed El and then made his way up to the guest bedroom to check on Neal. Peter entered the room and walked up to their sick houseguest. He was surprised when he saw the flush on Neal´s face. He had seen this before, this was not good. If this was what he suspected, they were in deep trouble.

“Neal, can you wake up?” Peter gently shook Neal´s shoulder.

“Hmm?” Neal slowly opened his eyes.

“Neal, can you stick out your tongue?”

“Don´t want to, my throat hurts.” He whispered while trying to wiggle back deeper under the blankets.

“Neal, I really need to see your tongue.”

“Neal pulled the blankets down to reveal his face and stuck out his tongue. Peter gasped. Neal´s tongue was bright red and resembled a strawberry. It was what he had suspected….

Scarlet fever….

This was not good. Peter felt Neal´s head and it was obviously that he had a high fever. He took the washcloths to the kitchen and wetted them again.

“El, it is not good, he´s got Scarlet fever.”

El looked shocked. “Seriously? What are we going to do?”

“There is nothing we can do, there is no medicine. We need to keep his fever down and see what happens.”

“Maybe June´s physician can help him?”

“Do you know where to reach her?”

“No, but maybe Neal knows.”

“It is worth a shot. Can you make some broth?”

“Sure.” El immediately went into the kitchen.

Peter got back upstairs and placed the wet washcloths on Neal´s forehead. He only sighed in relief.

“Neal, do you know where I can contact June? Do you have a number where I can reach her?”

“June? Yeah, it´s D O 1… 3…”

“Two more digits, Neal, do you know them?”

Neal had closed his eyes again and Peter gently shook him.

“What?”

“Two more digits, Neal, where can I reach June?”

“1… 3…”

“Yes?”

“6… 1”

“The number is DO 1361?”

Neal hummed. He was shivering and Peter felt bad for him.

“Neal, I’m going to call June and afterwards I will bring you some soup, OK?”

“K.”

Peter placed the blankets back over Neal and descended the stairs. He was happy that the FBI paid for a telephone in the house. He didn´t want to think if he had to go out in the cold and snow in search for a public telephone.

“Good evening, this is special agent Peter Burke. Can I please speak to miss June Ellington?”

“…”

“Miss Ellington? This is special agent Peter Burke.”

“ _Good evening agent Burke, what is wrong with Neal?”_

“How did you know that something is wrong with Neal?”

“ _Neal is one of the few people that know where to reach me, agent Burke.”_

“Of course. Well, I hate to trouble you the day before Christmas eve, but Neal is sick, badly sick. I suspect he has Scarlet fever”

“ _Oh my, that is bad. I will ask my personal physician to come by first thing in the morning_.”

“Thank you very much, we really appreciate it.”

“ _Don´t mention it_.”

Peter disconnected the line and was a bit less worried now that he knew a doctor would be seeing Neal. Knowing June it would be a very good doctor.

Peter walked up to the kitchen. “Oh, that smells good. What did you make?”

“I used a leg of the hen I bought for Christmas dinner to make some chicken soup for Neal. It will be good for him.”

“It will, thank you El.”

“What for?”

“I know you saved up to buy that hen.”

“It´s OK, Peter, get him to eat some of the broth.”

Peter took the bowl upstairs and noticed that Neal was awake.

“Hi Neal, El made you some chicken soup. It will give you strength.”

Neal looked startled. Peter studied his face and could see the rash creeping from his face and neck to the rest of the body. It was strange to see that there was a clear unaffected area around his mouth. His eyes were feverish, and unfocused.

“Neal?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Neal, do you know who I am?” Peter had a suspicion that Neal wasn´t really tracking.

“Agent Burke.”

“It´s Peter, Neal, you are worrying me. I have soup, please eat some, you need your strength.”

“Sure, what is in it?”

“What do you mean, what is in it?” Chicken, water, vegetables…”

“Are you trying to do, bribe me?”

“No, why would I want that? I want you better. Neal, this is the fever talking. It is making you paranoid. It is just soup.”

Peter could see Neal´s doubt and he didn´t like it. He was probably hungry and thirsty and the soup smelled delicious. Peter could hear Neal´s stomach growl.

“Here, to show you that I´m not poisoning you.”

Peter took the spoon and took a couple of sips from the soup, the next spoon he brought to Neal´s mouth, he was still eyeing him skeptical, but never the less opened his mouth. Once the first spoon was in, he ate with more gusto. He was getting clearer once he started eating.

By the time he finished the bowl, his eyes started drooping and Peter helped him to get more comfortable. Once Neal was sleeping, he went down again to have his own supper. After dinner, El was doing the dishes and Peter pulled the tree inside. He placed it in front of the front window. He placed some red cloth around the bucket and stood back. It looked fantastic, so he walked back upstairs to get the box with Christmas ornaments.

When he walked past Neal´s room, he took a peek inside and could see the rash had overtaken Neal´s entire body. His face looked flushed and Peter walked up to the bed to feel Neal. His fever had not gone down and Peter worry increased. He knew the doctor would be here in the morning, but still.

Neal started moaning and tossed a bit in his sleep and Peter placed his hand on top of Neal´s head, it seemed to have a calming effect, because Neal stilled.

“It´s OK Neal, you´re going to be OK.”

He took the washcloth and placed it in the water again so he could cool Neal. When Neal settled again, he walked down with the box. El had made some hot cocoa. As prohibition had ended in 1933, Peter took out a bottle of Rum and placed a drop in both their cups.

While El decorated the tree, Peter turned on the radio and petted Billie who was lying next to his feet. Suddenly there was a scream from upstairs and Peter was on his feet immediately and sprinting up the stairs.

When Peter barged through the door, Neal spooked and wanted to jump out of bed, but got tangled up in his blankets and hit the floor hard.

Peter wanted to help Neal up but he scrambled away, until he hit the wall with his back. He looked wildly past Neal to see what his chances were to get past Peter. Peer held out his hands in a hopefully disarming way when he slowly approached Neal.

“Neal, you are OK. You have a high fever.”

“No, I don´t want to go back in the showers, please.” Neal tone of voice was now pleading and it made Peter even feel worse.

“You don´t have to the shower, Neal, but I want you to go back to bed.”

“No… No… please, don´t, I will be good, I don´t need to be restrained… I”

“Neal, calm down. It is going to be OK.”

“Please Rob, I will be good. I won´t tell anybody…”

Suddenly Peter realizes that Neal is back at the asylum, where they had an undercover sting some time ago.

“Neal, Rob is dead, remember, he is executed. He is no longer here. Come on Neal, snap out of it.”

“Let me try, Peter.” El places her hand on Peter´s shoulder.

“Neal, sweetie, will you come with me?”

“Nurse Jeannie?”

El gave Peter a questionable look, but he gestured to play along.

“Yes, sweetie, come, you will be more comfortable when you are in bed. I will make sure you are safe.”

El, untangled him from the blankets and Neal let himself pulled up, even if he kept eyeing Peter suspiciously. El helped him in bed and started cleaning his face with a fresh cool cloth.

“Please, nurse Jeannie, I´m not sick, please let me call Elizabeth.”

“It is OK, Neal, I believe you, but we need to keep you safe, OK, so stay in bed, everything will be OK.”

“Please, Rob will…”

Neal used up all his energy and fell asleep while talking. El looked at Peter.

“What happened in that asylum?”

“It´s better that you don´t know the details, but they hurt him El, They really hurt him before I could get him out. He must be thinking he is back in the asylum.”

“Let´s keep him cool, maybe he can get some rest that way. You go sleep yourself, I will take the first watch.”

 

* * *

 

Peter and El were having their breakfast when the door bell rang. Peter opened the door.

“Miss Ellington sends me. My name is Doctor Morrison. I was informed that you have a case of Scarlet Fever.”

“Yes, He is upstairs.”

Peter and the doctor ascended the stairs and Peter showed the guestroom. Peter shook Neal a bit.

“Neal, wake up, the doctor is here.”

“It´s OK, I can examine him like this as well.”

The doctor took off his coat and examined Neal and came to the same conclusion.

“I will give him some medicine that should take care of his fever, and I want you to give him these.” The doctor handed Peter two glass bottles with pills, one said Knoll – Hydrocodone and the other had no label.

“What are these?” Peter held up the bottle with no label.

“It is Penicillin. It is a new medicine discovered a couple of years ago. They are very effective, but not yet made available for medical use. But I promise you, they will cure him.”

“I thought there was no medicine against Scarlet fever.”

“You were right, but studies were performed and they show that Scarlet fever can be treated with Penicillin. It also will prevent him from being contagious for very long. There should be significant improvement within 24 hours. If not, please call me, my number is MO 1587.”

“Well, you are the doctor.” Peter looked at the pills a bit skeptical.

The doctor addressed El. “Give him the plenty of cool drinks and soup or soft foods, because his throat is painful and swollen.”

“Of course.”

“Oh, and remember, he should take the whole bottle of penicillin.”

Peter saw the doctor out. When they stood in the doorway, he turned to Peter and said. “You realize I need to put a quarantine note on your house?”

“Yeah, you can place it on the gate.”

Peter watched the doctor unfolding the red paper and tying it to the front gate. He closed the door and walked back upstairs where El, had given Neal a pill from both bottles. Neal almost immediately fell back asleep. As the fever lessened, the nightmares also decreased and Neal slept more peaceful.

 

* * *

 

During the night, Peter woke up to check on Neal, but he was sleeping peacefully and Peter noticed that his fever had broken. That was good news; maybe the new medicine did work after all.

The next morning, Neal woke and tried to get up. Billie was immediately by his side and started barking, which alerted Peter that something was going on.

“Neal, what are you trying to do?” Peter smiled, when he saw the young man trying to get up and Billie happily barking at him, not helping at all.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“Well, there is a chamber pot, do you need help?”

“Yeah, I will be fine.”

When he couldn´t get up on his own; Neal looked sheepishly at Peter

“Please help me up?”

Peter offered his hand and Neal took it to slowly pull himself up. He wavered a moment and Neal held him.

“You sure you are up to this?”

“Well, maybe not quiet.”

Peter steadied Neal from behind while he took care of business.

“You want to come downstairs to lie on the couch; it will be warmer than upstairs?”

“Yes, I would like that, but you will need to help me down.”

“No problem, I will go first and you lean on me.”

They slowly made it downstairs and Peter dropped Neal into the couch. He then took one of the quilts El had made and draped it over Neal´s shivering body.

“I will get you some breakfast and your pills.”

When he walked into the kitchen, Billie was already looking for food, so Peter put on the kettle to boil water and looked what he could give Billie. El had saved some scraps from the creamed chipped beef they had for dinner last night so he dumped it outside in the bowl.

“Brrrr, it is cold outside.” He shivered when he came back in to see that El was already up.

“Sorry hon, didn´t mean to wake you.” He gave her a kiss.

“No problem, I will make some porridge for Neal, it will be easier than a sandwich.”

“Good idea.”

Peter took the plates for breakfast to the table and then walked up to Neal.

“How are you doing?” he asked while slapping Neal´s wrist. “Don´t scratch yourself.”

“But is really itches.” Neal whined.

“I can imagine, but still.”

“Don´t you have to go to work?”

“No, thanks to you, I don´t.”

“What do you mean, thanks to me?”

“Well, you have Scarlet fever, so we are in quarantine.”

“…” Neal looked a bit shocked.

“June send in some fancy doctor and he gave you a new medicine, called Penicillin, it should cure you and make you less contagious, so we will see in a couple of days if El and I caught it as well. I informed the office, but so far, nobody seemed to have attracted it.”

El brought in a tray with some steaming porridge and tea for Neal and a sweet roll with coffee for Peter.

During the day, Neal was mostly out of it, he slept a lot, El prepared their Christmas dinner and Peter decorated some more, made sure they had enough coal for the stove later that night. Billie was restless as she wasn’t able to go on a walk with Peter due to the quarantine. They made sure he didn´t scratch himself too much and took all his pills.

Around five, El asked Peter to help her set the table; she made a table decoration and lit some candles. Peter tuned the radio to Christmas songs and took El and they did a little dance. While El placed the food on the table, Peter guided Neal slowly to the chair. He then went upstairs to get his bathrobe, it would be a bit big, but it was soft so it wouldn´t scratch and it would keep Neal warm, now that he wasn´t under the quilt.

Neal looked in awe at all the food on the table, there was tomato bouillon, a slow-cooked hen with one leg missing. That was strange. So he looked up at Peter, who smiled.

“El wanted to make chicken soup for you, so she used the leg.”

When Neal heard that El had used her Christmas hen to make him soup, he swallowed against the lump in his throat.

“Thanks, El” he croaked.

“No sweetie, that is what family does, no need to thank.” She placed her hand on top of his.

There were also mashed potatoes with toasted crump topping, a savor onion sauté and buttered squash.

Neal wasn´t really hungry but took a couple of bites, just to get the taste. It all was delicious. When they were finished El had a surprise. She had kept it outside as it was freezing and it would be easier to preserve outside than inside. When she came back in she was holding a bowl with coffee caramel Ice cream.

“The ice cream will be easy on your throat.”

Peter could see Neal was getting all emotional.

“After dessert, we can listen to the radio and open the presents.” Peter announced.

“Presents? But mine are still at June´s.”

“No worry, we will do with what we have here.”

Neal almost purred in contentment while eating his ice cream, but soon after he was fading, so Peter took him back to the couch and helped El cleaning the dishes.

When they were finished, El had tray with tea, coffee and a bund cake. They all settled down and waited for Neal to wake up again.

El handed both men a gift. They opened it and inside where mitts, a hat and a shawl.

“Thanks El.” Peter gave her a kiss.

“Yeah, these come in very handy, and the knitting, it is so delicate. Thanks El.” Neal gave El his biggest smile he could muster.

“You´re welcome.”

Peter handed her his present and she let out a squeak when she saw the soap and bath salts.

“Oh hon, they are from Paris, I love them.”

“Only the best for you, hon. Billie, kom hier.” ( _Come here_ )

Billie trotted over and Peter gave her the big bone that had been delivered by the butcher´s help. She took it with her tail wagging and lay down on her horse hair blanket to chew on it.

There was only one gift left and Neal eyed it. El smiled when picking it up and giving it to Neal. He unwrapped it carefully and just stared at the contents. Inside were paints, and they were of high quality, he had never had such nice ones for himself. These were the best gifts anyone had ever given him.

 

“Thanks you guys, this is by far the best Christmas ever.”

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing you all happy Holidays…


End file.
